


Tweek Week Day 1: Relaxation

by KyleMeMaybe



Series: Tweek Week 2019 [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Gen, Hobbies, Knitting, References to anxiety, Relaxation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-11 03:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20146978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyleMeMaybe/pseuds/KyleMeMaybe
Summary: After a long and stressful day, it's hard for Tweek to relax sometimes, until he picks up a new and interesting hobby that gives him something to look forward to in his downtime.





	Tweek Week Day 1: Relaxation

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to try participating in Tweek Week over on Tumblr! I won't be able to complete something for every prompt but hopefully you enjoy what I wrote. 
> 
> Here's a short thing for day one--I love the idea of Tweek getting involved in creative hobbies that keep him sufficiently busy, it's a good way to cope with anxiety. Knitting seemed like something he could really get into so I made that the focus here. Hope you enjoy!

It had been a rough day for Tweek.

It was a Saturday, a day most kids would be excited about. Weekends were  _ supposed  _ to be for hanging out with friends, playing video games, and putting off homework. But not for Tweek--instead, most Saturday mornings he found himself working at his parents’ coffee shop, taking orders and serving customers.

Today was no exception. Tweek Bros. Coffee had been buzzing more than usual that day with a steady stream of customers coming in and out, all of them wanting their morning caffeine fix--and wanting it as soon as possible. And because his parents seemed to have an aversion to hiring anyone who didn’t share their last name, Tweek’s shift ran overtime as he rushed back and forth from the front of the store to the backroom, fetching more bags of beans and brewing fresh coffee and getting orders to customers, in between his usual duties of washing dishes and sweeping the floors. The stress of having too many people around needing things from him made him shaky, but remarkably, he didn’t crack.

He was, however, physically and mentally exhausted by the time his father told him he was free to go—two hours later than the time he usually got off. He was fairly certain there were laws against someone his age working as many hours as he did, or at least Craig always insisted there were, especially since he didn’t exactly get paid well for all that he did there. But he didn’t know what exactly he could do about it. The thought of confronting his parents about it made him feel anxious, and the last thing he needed in his life was more anxiety.

All he really cared about now was relaxing some, especially while he still had the house to himself without his parents around to bother him or get him to do more work. It was hard for him to calm down when he was so tightly wound up, to the point where he was grinding his teeth and yanking at his hair without even realizing it, but recently he’d discovered a new hobby, one that kept his fidgety hands busy and gave his mind something else to focus on.

Once Tweek was in his room he reached into his desk, and pulled out what he needed—a pair of knitting needles, and a half-finished scarf, made of a soft blue yarn he’d found at the craft store and instantly loved. Then he put in his earbuds, picked his “soothing” music playlist on his phone, and found a comfortable spot on his bed to settle down and knit.

_ Okay...I just need to pick up where I left off yesterday.  _

Taking a breath and then exhaling to loosen himself up, Tweek began to knit his next row of stitches. He was always a little nervous when he resumed a project, worried he’d make a mistake until he regained his rhythm, but once he found it he eased back into the project and lost himself in it.

An hour passed. Tweek worked steadily, listening to his music and concentrating on not dropping any stitches. It was mesmerizing, watching the scarf gradually take shape with each row he knitted. He smiled to himself, realizing that he felt happy now when only an hour before he was panicky and upset. His thoughts were quiet, and his hands were no longer shaking as he held the needles. Not to mention he was proud of himself, being able to make a scarf that looked even halfway decent now, considering how shoddy his first attempts were back when he first started.

Tweek remembered a few months ago, when he’d first taken up knitting as a hobby and tried to make his first scarf. The final product had been horrible—somehow he’d made a mistake he couldn’t quite figure out how to fix, so one end of the scarf had been wide and then tapered off into a narrow end. It didn’t look anything like a scarf. But while he’s been disappointed by this failure, he’d had to admit to himself that he didn’t care as much as he ordinarily would’ve. For one thing, he was only a beginner, so mistakes were bound to be made, and for another...he’d enjoyed himself while making it. It was rare for him to find an activity where he was able to zone out of his own troubled thoughts and calm down for even a little while as he focused on something else. So even if what he made wasn’t perfect, it didn’t matter too much, because it was more for himself than for anyone else.

He didn’t tell anyone else about his hobby. He wasn’t ashamed of it, but he also knew certain people at school would probably make fun of it, and that was stress he didn’t want to deal with. He hadn’t even mentioned it to Craig yet, not that he expected him to tease him for it. As for his parents, they probably already thought he was “different” enough now—that, or they’d find some way to exploit this hobby for personal gain, and then he’d no longer like it. Besides, it was nice to have something like this all to himself, like a private little getaway from his life. 

Before he knew it a couple hours had gone by, without him even realizing. He probably could’ve continued knitting for two more hours, had his phone not gone off with a text that made him jump. When he checked his phone he was shocked to see just how much time had flown by, and how considerably at ease he felt now. Getting so wrapped up in a project could really make the rest of the world fall away sometimes.

The text was from Craig, asking if Tweek wanted to go to the movies. Clyde and Token were going too. Tweek was quick to respond that he’d meet them at the theater as soon as possible. Then he carefully folded the scarf, satisfied that it was now much longer than it had been when he’d first started today, and stored it back in his desk for another day. It wouldn’t be long before he finished it and could start a new project, maybe a hat or a pair of mittens to go with it. He smiled a little to himself at the idea, looking forward to starting something new.

Or no...maybe he’d make another scarf. He could give it to Craig, and then they could match. It was a dorky idea, for sure, the kind that Craig would usually poke fun at with other couples...but he was pretty sure he’d go for it if Tweek was the one who suggested it. Or maybe he would make them for their other close friends too, Clyde and Token and Jimmy. 

It would definitely keep him busy, just the way he liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please feel free to let me know what you think!


End file.
